Friends
by dani's random fox
Summary: Yuki Sohma walks home everyday, by himself. He’s depressed and all alone. One day, he meets a highschooler who wants to be his friend and cheer him up. She and Yuki become friends, but with Akito around, Yuki’s friendships never last. YukiOC friendship.
1. Friday

Hallo everybody. This idea had been in my head for a while. Almost two years, actually. I just haven't gotten around to write it. I don't think friendship fics are really popular. Congrats to you if you decided to read this. I am entranced with the Zodiac members' childhood. I hope that you will enjoy this and review. They make me happy. •.•

**NOTE(S):** Yuki is about seven, close to eight, in this fic. I don't know his proper age, so please tell me if I'm way off. This is after:

-he loses all of his friends

-he finds Kyo's hat (Hey---that rhymes!)

-Akito tell him he is not needed

I noticed that he was driven to school but he walked home. The reason why they haven't met up before will be explained in the chapter.

In the anime, Yuki has purple hair but in the manga, he has grey. So I just made it dark grey.

Summary: Yuki Sohma walks home everyday, by himself. He's depressed and all alone. One day, he meets a highschooler who wants to be his friend and cheer him up. She and Yuki become friends, but with Akito around, Yuki's friendships never last. YukiOC friendship.

Rating: K 

Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort. No romance. It's a childhood friendship fic peoples.

Guide:

"Talking."

'_Thinking.'_

Emphasized words will be italicized or bolded depending on the amount of feeling.

Flashbacks will be italicized and not introduced.

_Friend (n): An ally or supporter_

Friends

Chapter One

Yuki Sohma walked slowly, dragging his feet as he walked home. He sighed and looked up into the cheerful blue sky.

'_Why does everyone hate me?' _

"Hey, if you keep dragging your feet, you'll ruin your shoes," chastised a feminine voice behind him.

Yuki turned around quickly. A girl, high school by her uniform, smiled kindly at him. She wore the standard public high school uniform; a dark blue sailor top and long skirt. She had warm brown eyes and a soft chin. Her dark brown hair was in a simple bun.

Yuki was surprised. He had never seen this girl before. In fact, he was normally disregarded on his walk. Even kids in his own class who walked home along the same pathway ignored him, not wanting to associate with such a glum, boring boy.

The girl frowned, "Why so melancholy? Is something wrong?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again, "What's 'melancholy'?"

"Oh wow, you have such a cute voice," she said with a smile. Yuki blushed, and clenched onto his backpack, gripping it tighter.

She stepped forward and kneeled down to his height, "Melancholy means depressed, or really sad. I've noticed you walk around like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Why so sad?"

Yuki shifted uncomfortably, averting his gaze.

The girl stood up and mussed his hair, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, little guy," she said softly.

Yuki looked up at her. '_I want to tell you, but I can't_,' he thought sadly.

She noticed the change in his demeanor, "My name's Yuka. What's yours? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Yu…Yuki."

"You've got a nice name there, Yuki-chan. Tell me, where you named after snow or luck?"

Yuki frowned, "I…don't know."

Yuka shrugged, "Its okay. Better than me, I got named after the floor."

Yuki smiled slightly.

"Ah!" Yuka exclaimed, "He smiles!"

He smiled wider.

"You have such a lovely smile, Yuki-chan. You should smile more. Smiling helps you forget the reasons why you're sad. Come on, let's walk together. My home is farther than yours."

Yuki took a step back, confusion clouding his cute face, should he walk with her, this stranger with kind words and a warm smile? Should he run? He couldn't run, he realized. It would aggravate his lungs. Akito wouldn't let him walk home.

"S-sure," he agreed finally.

Yuka smiled and began to walk.

They walked in silence for about half a block when Yuki got up the nerve to ask her, "Yuka-san, how come I've never seen you before?"

"Mm," she said. "Ah, I get out a little later than you, and I did various activities after school. When I _would_ walk home, I always saw you walking ahead of me. You walk slowly and my legs are longer, so I caught up to you. I never got close to you; I usually prefer to walk alone."

She glanced at him, "But I saw how lonely you were. You always sighed and dragged your feet."

Yuka looked ahead, "To be honest, I felt sorry for you. It's not fair to see everyone walk home with so many friends, is it?"

Yuki had stiffened when she said that she felt sorry for him, but relaxed, "…no…" he said softly, looking at the ground.

"Don't worry, though. I walk alone, too. I…kind of got tired of it so I decided to walk faster today, so I could catch up to you. I don't want to walk alone anymore, do you?"

"N…no," Yuki replied quietly.

"And thus, an alliance is formed," she said in a deep voice. "I'll try to catch up to you from now on, okay?"

Yuki smiled and nodded his head.

"Its funny how our names are only a letter apart, isn't it, Yuki-chan?" she asked thoughtfully as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Y-yeah…"

"Mm, do you want to talk or would you rather I shut up?"

Yuki looked up at her, "I don't mind, Yuka-san."

She smiled again, "Tell me about yourself, then. Favorite color, food, animal, that kind of thing."

"Um…I like red and um, peaches. My favorite animal is…" he trailed off, not able to think of an animal.

"Anything at all? Not even a worm?"

Yuki grinned, "Not a worm. A rat, I guess…"

"Hum…I like lilac, cherries, and cats. I like to draw and read and my favorite thing to do is sleep next to my cat."

Yuki frowned as he walked, thinking about Kyo the Cat and how much Kyo hated him.

"Is something wrong, Yuki-chan? Not fond of cats?"

"Um…" he didn't want to offend her, to drive her away. To lose another friend.

"Mm, it's okay. I'm not too fond of rats, either. Not that I hate them or anything. I don't mind pet rats; it's the wild ones that scare me. And the bald ones. Those are freaky."

"Bald rats?"

"Yeah. They're hairless rats. They remind me of naked mole rats," she shuddered.

Yuki giggled.

They walked in silence the rest of the way. The Sohma estate was getting closer.

"This is probably about where I leave you, isn't it Yuki-chan?" Yuka asked as they got closer to the door.

Yuki's shoulders slumped a little, "Yeah…"

"Mm," she ruffled his hair. "I'll see you tomorrow, m'kay?"

"Okay," he said, grinning at the thought.

"Take care," she called as she waved at him while walking backwords.

"Bye!" he waved back.

'_Will she really walk with me again_?' he thought as he walked past the entrance gate and over to his shared house with Akito. '_It would be nice to see her again._'

"Welcome home, Yuki-san. Akito-san is waiting," greeted a maid when he walked through the door.

He slid off his shoes and followed her.

They walked down a hallway and stopped in front a door. The maid knocked, "Akito-san, Yuki has arrived."

"Come in," said the occupant.

The maid slid the door open and gave Yuki a push inside. She shut the door and Yuki heard her footsteps slowly disappear.

"How was school," Akito asked as he got up from his sitting mat and walked over to Yuki, putting a soft hand on his face, "…my vengeful little Yuki?

Sorry, it wasn't that interesting but I'm working on the other chapter right away. I just wanted to put the idea out there and see if anyone liked it. If I get some reviews, I'll post up another chapter. If not, then I'll alter this one a little bit and make it a one-shot.

Please review if you like it.

Written in Tahoma, size 10.5, five pages, 1,373 words

March 14, 2008


	2. Saturday

Heya, I'm back! I live, I live! I do have another chapter written for this, just so you know. I'm not lying! It's ALL done. I'll update it before my trip. When is it, you ask? Hm…tell you what, you review, and I'll PM you, if you're interested. Just say so in the review. Thank you so much Translucent Dreams, Kanomi-Fro, and mousecat!! This chapter is for you three.

* * *

Friends

Chapter Two

Elementary school children ran flooded out of the gates, eager to go home. Soon, the swarm of kids dispersed, and it was safe enough for Yuki to leave. He stopped by the brick wall entrance to his school and leaned against the wall, looking idly up at the sky.

He had been standing by the wall for a while when he heard laughing and looked over at the source. Matsuo and Zetsu, two boys from his class, were walking next to each other, laughing about something Matsuo had said.

"Hey, hey, Zetsu! D'you wanna come over for tea today?" Matsuo asked after their laughing died down.

They walked past Yuki, not even glancing in his direction, "Yeah, yeah, then we can play soccer!"

Yuki watched them slowly disappear. He didn't hear the hurried footsteps coming up behind him, "Yuki-chan!"

He turned around quickly, startled. Yuka was panting and leaning on her knees. Some strands of her brown hair stuck to her face and her backpack lay next to her legs.

"Were…were you…waiting for…me?" she asked between breaths.

Yuki nodded, looking at her with concern.

"That….that's so…kind of you," Yuka wheezed as she picked up her backpack.

She trudged over to the wall that Yuki had previously been leaning on, he had moved away when she surprised him, and sat down with her back on the wall. She calmed her breathing and began to breathe normally.

"I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. I'm not a very good runner; if you can my pathetic attempt that. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm actually," she beamed at him, "very happy that you waited for me."

Yuki blushed faintly, unsure of what to say.

"Did you know those boys?" she asked quietly, glancing in the direction where the boys had previously walked.

"Ye-" Yuki stopped. How would it look if he told her that he did, when they had no recollection of him? "N-no…I don't know them."

"Oh…okay," she said, giving him a knowing look. She stood up and brushed her skirt. She picked up her backpack, "Why don't we start our walk now?"

Yuki nodded, and walked beside her quietly. He looked up at her suddenly, how long had she been watching him? He used to walk home with Zetsu and Matsuo, what if she had seen? Did she know he lied to her?

"Something wrong?" Yuka asked, jerking him out of his stupor. If she had known about his lie, she pretended not to know. "Um…no, Yuka-san."

"Okay. So…what do you do in your spare time? Do you have a favorite TV show? Or a song? A book, perhaps? A genre, maybe?"

"Genre?"

"Genre is the kind of book it is, like fantasy, adventure, humor, romance."

"I don't really watch TV," Yuki said. More like Akito wouldn't let him. Yuki was only allowed to play with Akito, and not be entertained or kept busy with something like the television, or music. The only music he heard was at the Banquet. He did, however, read books.

Occasionally, when Akito was too sick to play, Yuki was left to his own. With no one else to play with, or anyone to take him anywhere, Yuki usually read books. He had a very small collection of books given to him by a sympathetic maid. Sometimes, his teacher let him borrow some of her classroom books. She had many books, but he always liked fairy tales, where they always had happy endings.

"Fairy tales," he answered, blushing at how stupid he must've sounded. A little boy liking fairy tales. Ridiculous. He should've said adventure, or cowboy stories with guns and blood—

"Cool. Good moral stories. I'm not really into them. I like fantasy, which is similar; however there are not always happy endings."

Yuki felt relieved. She hadn't ridiculed him. "Yeah?"

"Yup. Do you have a favorite book, or do you just like to read them?"

"Cinderella," Yuki answered immediately, then blushed.

"That's an American fairy tale. Interesting, though. Any reason why?"

"Um…well…Cinderella was treated badly by her step-sisters and step-mother but she was always happy and nice and um…." It almost reminded him of himself. Ayame-nii-san ignored him; as did everyone else, even his own mother, who sometimes hit him if she thought he was being ignorant of Akito's needs. "the animals."

"Ah, all the mice?" Yuka said with a grin.

Yuki smiled a little, "Yeah. I want to be able to be happy just like her."

Yuka's grin faded, "Are you being abused, Yuki-chan?"

"Ab-abused?" he asked weakly. He shouldn't have said that. Stupid, stupid!

Yuka turned around in front of him suddenly and grabbed onto his shoulders. "Abuse is when someone does mean things to you that you don't want, or they hit you. Nobody can do that to you. Is someone hurting you?"

Abuse? Is that what it was called? So…his mother hitting him was abuse? And Akito…was he abusing him? Yuki shook his head, it didn't matter if they were or not. This girl couldn't help him. He would only get her and himself in trouble. "N-no."

"Yuki-chan, its okay to tell me. I can help you," She said quietly in her kind voice.

"No!" he said, louder this time. She released him quickly, as if he burned her. "Okay, if you're sure."

"I am," Yuki said firmly, and began to walk at a quick pace.

Yuka walked alongside him. What was quick to him was just a change in the length of her stride for her. Pretty soon he got tired, and began to walk at his slower gait.

She said nothing the entire time, and Yuki felt uncomfortable, maybe he hurt her feelings? Maybe, by rejecting her help, he had also rejected her friendship?

They were nearing the estate now. "Do you have a copy of Cinderella?" she asked suddenly.

"N-no."

"Okay. I'll see you on Monday. Have a nice weekend," she said and walked away, leaving Yuki in front of the gates of the Sohma.

Yuki hated Sundays. At least during the week he had school and only saw Akito part-time. But on Sundays...he had to suffer the whole day with Akito.

"Your spring break is coming up soon, isn't Yuki?" Akito asked. They were in his room today. Just like yesterday, and the day before that. They were coloring today, because Akito didn't feel like playing any games.

"Y-yeah…"

"I'm glad."

Yuki looked up from his picture of a red apple. He was _glad_? Akito was _never_ happy.

Akito smiled at him cruelly, "We get to spend the whole week together."

* * *

Please review!

Tahoma, size 10, 1,248 words

June 4th, 2008

URGH! FORGOT THE DISCLAIMER, _AGAIN! _

dani's random fox does not own Furuba


	3. Monday

I am rather…miffed that I didn't get more reviews, especially since I have 30 hits for chapter 2. Oh well. All I can say is: Hey you, people who don't review. YOU SUCK.

Hm, this chapter is dedicated to **Translucent Dreams**. Thank you very much for your review.

Disclaimer ((didn't forget!!)): Furuba is not mine.

Oh, I've decided to give every chapter a title. It does have meaning, BTW, because by the time the next Friday comes around, **Yuki's life will be changed forever**. Will it be a good change? Will Akito find out? ((Friday is the day Yuki met Yuka.))

* * *

Chapter 3

Monday

Yuki spent his Monday fidgeting restlessly in his desk. Would she still be there? Would she want to walk with him after what happened Saturday?

Yuki went through his routine of getting his coat and backpacks slowly, to give the other kids more time to leave. He walked out of the schoolyard and waited by the brick wall. He waited for three minutes…then five…and then ten. Yuki sighed sadly, and looked in the direction that she usually came from. Was this her way of saying that she didn't want to walk with him anymore?

Yuki waited two more minutes. No sign of Yuka. Yuki felt tears coming. He had lost yet another friend, and this time it wasn't over the Zodiac. It was his own fault.

He began his lonely walk home, casting one more hopeful look over his shoulder. No sign of life.

After a few minutes, he heard footsteps. Was it her?

He turned around and his heart sank. It was a teenager, alright, but it wasn't Yuka. It was a tall, broad-shouldered boy, who glared at Yuki as he walked past him. Yuki watched the boy disappear and then he felt a sudden wetness on his cheek. He was crying.

Yuki cried for…he didn't even know how long. He wiped his face, how long had he been there? He was going to be late now. Would he be punished? Probably. Akito didn't like to be kept waiting.

Just as he was about to run home, a dark grey car pulled next him. The window rolled down, "Yuki-chan! I thought for sure you'd be farther up there than this."

Yuki looked over at the car. Yuka turned off the car and stepped out. "Hey!"

Yuki burst into tears.

Her smile faltered, "H-hey! What's wrong? It's me, isn't it? I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. I had a doctor's appointment today, and I didn't know until last night. Don't cry."

Yuki felt her about to hug him, "No!" he shouted frantically, and pushed her away. She fell on the concrete. "I suppose I deserved that. I'm sorry, Yuki-chan. Please don't cry anymore."

Yuki's tears ceased to a trickle. Then he remembered Akito and he began to cry again.

He felt something soft brush his cheek, and he jerked his head back. "There, there, now." Yuka whispered softly, patting his cheeks with a tissue.

"Akito-san…Akito-san will punish me if I'm not home on time!" Yuki blurted.

"Who is Akito-san?" Yuka asked, wiping away more tears.

"I'll get in trouble if I'm not home on time!" Yuki said again, more tears flowing down his face. He leaned into the soft, warm and comforting hand.

"C'mon now. I'll give you a ride, okay? Then you won't get in trouble. I'll drop you off just before the estate, how's that? Okay?"

Scared of riding with a practical stranger, but even more scared of Akito's wrath, Yuki nodded and sniffed, "O-okay."

"Alright, then," Yuka said, and led him over to the passenger side. Yuki slid into the seat, and noticed right away the comforting smell.

Yuka noticed his nose twitching as she buckled him, careful to stay away. He didn't seem to like physical contact. "Its cinnamon and apples," she said with a small smile.

She walked quickly over to the other side while Yuki adjusted in seat. He set his backpack next to him on the seat. His feet touched her backpack, which lay haphazardly at his feet. Should he move it…or put his feet on it? Yuki hesitated. That didn't sound right. Then what should he do…?

"You can put your feet on it." Yuka said, relieving his predicament as she put on her seatbelt and started the car. Yuka pulled into the street and drove the car smoothly down their route home.

While Yuka drove, Yuki looked around her car. He hadn't been inside many cars. Not like this one, anyway. The seats were soft and cushiony, not like the hard, stiff leathery ones his mother had. A weird fuzzy ball was attached to the rearview mirror, and it swayed back and forth as they drove. Yuki was curious, and he had the children's sudden impulse to touch it. He had never seen anything so…_weird_. His mother certainly wouldn't have anything so ridiculous in _her_ car.

Yuki reached out to touch the fuzzy ball and sniffed from his runny nose.

"Do you need a tissue?" he jumped, and yanked his hand back.

"Here," Yuka said, not giving him time to answer, and shoved a tissue box under his nose.

"Thank you," he said politely and took a tissue and blew his nose. He folded the tissue neatly and looked around for a place to throw it away.

"There's a wastebasket under your seat."

Yuki found the small black trash can and threw the used tissue away. He looked up at Yuka after he put the trashcan back. She was concentrating on driving so he was free to observe without being caught.

Yuki looked at her face. He hadn't really been able to concentrate on her face much when they met. She had dark circles under brown eyes. Her skin looked pale and sickly, different from when they met when it had a healthier glow. He noticed that she was chewing on her lip nervously.

"Don't worry," she said suddenly, startling him. "We'll get there on time. I used to time myself when I went home. I kept track of where I was so I knew what time it was without having to use my watch. We're good."

"Okay."

They soon arrived to the Sohma block, and Yuka stopped at the edge of the estate.

"Thank you for the ride," Yuki said in his soft voice.

"You're welcome."

Yuki unbuckled himself and grabbed his backpack. He looked up at her as he was going to close the door. She was looking at her wrist, picking at a strange white band. Maybe she was still angry with him? Should he apologize?

"Um…" Yuki began.

"I'll see you around, Yuki-chan. Actually, I'll see you tomorrow," she said absentmindedly.

He interpreted as a dismissal, "R-right."

He looked her over once more before he shut the door. She was smiling, but it was a sad smile. Was it because of him?

Yuki began the rest of his short trek home, thinking hard about their time together. Had he done something to upset her?

"Yuki-chan, wait! I have a present for you."

Yuki turned around. Yuka walked quickly up to him, holding a red wrapped present in her hand. She held it out to him and patted his head affectionately. "I hope you like it."

Yuki stared wordlessly at the present. It was wrapped neatly, with a pretty red bow on the top.

He turned to thank her but she was gone. Her car drove past him and turned disappeared out of his vision.

He felt saddened. He wanted to thank her. Maybe she had somewhere to be and had to leave in a hurry? Speaking of places to be…

Yuki wanted to open the present so badly. But Akito was waiting…

He was too excited, so he set his backpack on the ground and observed the present. It was long and wide and hard, similar to a book. Yuki gasped; did she get him a book?

He wanted to take the pretty paper off slowly, but he became very impatient and he tore the paper off. It _was_ a book!

He eagerly turned the book around and read the title out loud.

"Cinderella…"

* * *

Ah, what will Tuesday hold for Yuki and Yuka? I know, but you don't. Wanna know? Review.

Tahoma size 10.5

1385 words

July 2, 2008


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